An introduction to how iMovie, from Apple, can be used to allow students the ability to express their content knowledge creatively in a new format. Examples for use as well as examples from students and other educators are shown as part of this presentation. A hands-on session was included to allow teachers in attendance to play with iMovie and then share with the group what they were able to do as well as their own ideas to integrate the tool into their classroom.

An introduction to Office 365 for teachers. Topics addressed included Outlook Web and migrating from Access accounts, Calendar, People (contacts), Office tools, etc. This session also provided hands-on time for teachers to log-in and begin to use their new accounts on Office 365.

Huntington Middle School in Cabell County has started to use Connecting Families from Common Sense Education to help educate our parents in the opportunities and pitfalls that exist in today’s digital world. The program provides tools to help parents better understand the issues that our kids face each day in their digital lives and provides them with tools to better help our kids be good digital citizens. This session will provide a quick overview of the Connecting Families program and then go into the details of how Huntington Middle School established the program to reach our parents. Tips and insights from our implementation will be shared to help other who hope to implement Connecting Families at their own schools.

Many teachers find integrating technology into lessons a little overwhelming. Classrooms are tech ready for digital learning but it is hard to find quality tools for student learning and integrate them into teaching. Participants will learn how to discover high quality digital learning apps and weave them into Lesson Flows – a framework – and resource – that helps teachers integrate technology into lesson plans, while adhering to their lesson goals. Teachers think with purpose about where, why and how to integrate technology into their teaching.

Training for teachers for OnCourse Lesson Planner as part of the initial implementation for Cabell County Schools 2015-2016 school year.

OneNote in the Classroom – Putnam County Schools Summer Staff Development 2016

Training session to expose teachers to OneNote and the Classroom Notebook from Office 365. Teachers were provided the chance to see how OneNote and the Classroom Notebook work while being provided the opportunity to begin building their own notebooks and classroom notebooks.

Connect with other educators to target your interests in order to improve instructional delivery. Many tools exist that make these connections easy to find and use. Yammer, EdWeb, Twitter and EdChats, Facebook Groups, Simple K-12, and Voxer are just a few examples of tools being used by educators to expand their PLNs.

Educators spend hours looking for new and exciting digital tools and resources for their classroom, but often times, come up short in finding quality items to integrate. Wouldn’t it be great to have one place to go and find these items for your classroom? Graphite (http://www.graphite.org) provides a way for educators to find items for their classroom that have been reviewed by Common Sense Education’s editorial team and other educators from around the world. Graphite also provides quality lesson plans and a growing teacher community for discussion on educational tools and resources. Educators can also earn “Certified Educator” status on Graphite for their own work in helping to expand the reviews and lesson plans on Graphite. Join Randall Black, Certified Educator: Graphite and a Common Sense Ambassador, to see what Graphite has to offer.

What are the best tools to foster the 4 Cs – communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking? In this fast-paced session, sample “app-etizers” and learn about tools teachers can use with all subject areas and grade levels to support 21st Century learning. You’ll hear not only about the tools, but ideas on how they can be used and experience the resource. We’ll explore: EdPuzzle, Chalkup, PollEverywhere, Canva and more. These tools are recommended by teachers on Graphite, a free service by Common Sense Education that helps educators find and meaningfully integrate the best digital learning tools.

An #EdChat takes place online using Twitter with a designated hashtag (#WVEdChat, for example) to follow the discussion. In WV, the #WVEdChat is growing and more and more educators are becoming involved each session. @Mr_B_TSS, @mr_oldfield, @MrJason_Jackson, and @tisinaction will be demonstrating a session of #WVEdChat. Join us to discuss #WVSTC16, gain a better understanding of how an #EdChat works and see tools (Participate Learning, TweetDeck, etc.) that can be used to help you better be involved in the discussion.

Randall Black is an educator and technology specialist from West Virginia. His time in the classroom, as a social studies teacher and a technology trainer, and as an educational technology support team member has molded his views on education. He uses this podcast as a creative outlet for him to share his own views and ideas on topics of his interest as well as educational topics and successes among other members of his PLN (professional learning network).

Join Randall Black (The Randall Black Show & RandallBlack.com) every Tuesday and Saturday as he shares quick and simple EdTech tips for educators across a spectrum of operating systems, devices, and more to make their job easier. It’s because we should all be working smarter; not harder.

“Fellow podcaster Randall Black, host of The Randall Black Show, joins me to talk about his passion for sharing stories. We also discuss failure, what makes great PD, and the three different kinds of teachers there are when it comes to tech in the classroom. Randall is a vibrant, thoughtful educator who is working to make things better for everyone he meets, which makes conversation 51 a convo worth listening to.”

Now that tech is here to stay, how does it define the educational landscape? We know there’s great tools and lots of fun ideas, but how does tech, in its current form, define the profession of teaching?

“This week on the show I am joined by Randall Black, from West Virginia, a Technology Systems Specialist. He focuses more on the technology side, and getting it working, but still finds value in being in the classroom. He is also the host of the Randall Black Show, an education interview show talking about issues in education, as well as EdTech Shorts, a show of quick and simple EdTech tools and tips.Randall and I talk about the value of reaching across the silos of our roles and finding new ideas, the need for support of teachers, support of administrators, and the schools themselves financially, ways to make change happen for our needs, what he calls TTWWADI (the mindset of “That’s The Way We’ve Always Done It”), being a connected educator and the power of a PLN, and how best teachers aren’t always from the classroom.”

CONSULTING Work:

Common Sense Education – Graphite 2.0 Mentoring/Community Building

1 year, Contracted (May 1, 2015 – April 30, 2016)

Duties:

Moderate discussions on Graphite community on two pages, including initiating conversations, responding to posts and connecting educators to appropriate resources.

Posts and responses will be based on amount of community activity.

Mentor Graphite Certified Educators by providing feedback on their Field Notes and Lesson Flows in order to increase the quality.

Create one new Graphite Board every month by curating the best content (Product Reviews, Field Notes and Lesson Flows) for assigned area and the Graphite editorial theme calendar.

Minecraft: Education Edition Deployment and Professional Development – West Virginia Department of Education

4 Month , Contracted (August 29, 2018 – December 31, 2018)

Duties:

Provide technical assistance to West Virginia schools and teachers looking to deploy Minecraft: Education Edition on their devices for teacher and student use.

Assist in professional development as needed.

Skills & Professional Development:

Computer and Network Management:

Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, Office 365, and Microsoft and MacOS Operating Systems as well as with iOS devices and iPad integration into the classroom and network administration and computer repair

Management and implementation of 260+ iPad devices using Apple Configurator and Meraki MDM at Huntington Middle School (2013-2016)

Guided implementation of Chromebooks at Huntington Middle School (2016)

Technology Systems Specialist with Putnam County Schools: 1troubleshoot and repair computer and network hardware; 2manage systems in district domain, active directory, and System Center; 3manage users and group policy for network access and function, and 4enforce Acceptable Use Policy with both students and staff.

Background in Historical Research and the use of Primary and Secondary source materials for interpretation

Technology and Instructional Training Sessions and Courses Completed:

Numonics Virtual Whiteboard

Smart Slate, Board, and Notebook

iPad Integration

Learning-Focused Strategies

Differentiated Instruction

Document Based Questions

APL Associates Instruction Skills Workshop

Common Sense Media

Digital Literacy & Citizenship Curriculum Training – 11/27/2014

WVLearns:

Google Applications for Classroom Instruction – October-November 2012

Webtop for a Educators – March-April 2014

Intel Essentials: Blended Delivery of Instruction – May-June 2014

Blended Delivery of Instruction II – October-November 2014

Office 365 for Classroom Instruction – January-February 2015

Building your PLN – October-November 2015

Finding the Best Education Resources on the Web – October-November 2016